Game Reviews, since some of you asked

[kotukawi]

While I was able to maintain all of my New Years resolutions for the full month of January, the hectic schedule of February and March has hit me like a Mack truck. Pretty much I've fallen behind across the board from my rather detailed plan on how to do everything, and at this point, I realize that I am forced to prioritize. And given that I have

Comments

[col_clary]

I recently got to play a bit of Halo 3 myself at a party, and I was surprised to find that the controls seemed more difficult than I'd remembered them being in the first two games. I couldn't aim very well, which was something I recalled being handled pretty well for a console FPS in the first two. I think it may have had something to do with the 360 controller; it felt like the joysticks didn't have as much resistance feedback (y'know, how the further you push the stick, the more force it takes to push it a little further still?). The fact that they're set in circular bounds rather than hexagonal may have had something to do with it as well. Oh, and it defaulted to non-standard ("not-inverted") FPS controls. :P Would've been really nice to have a quick way to change it, none of the other players were patient enough to let me set up a profile to fix this.

I'm curious, though, how is a PS3 controller that different from a 360 one? They look to me to be laid out pretty similarly.

[kotukawi]

The 360 trigger button is shaped similarly to the trigger on a gun, concave out from the controller. The PS3 "trigger" button (R2) is shaped concave towards you.

This means that the button which shoots your gun tends to be different. The 360 will use Right Trigger (RT/R2), and the PS3 will often use what is effectively Right Button (RB/R1)

[krizoitz]

Thats because the 360 controller is right and the playstation controller is wrong. I say this not as a fanboy, but as someone who has used both styles and found the later to be lacking. First, the analog stick on the left side. This is the primary control for many gameson both platforms. The 360 put it, therefore, in the natural thumb position. The playstation stuck with the same layout they have since the PS1, the less used D-pad gets a prominent position. Second the buttons. Concave buttons feel better because they are designed for your fingers to sit in them, convex buttons are designed for your finger to slide off them. Its a subtle but important difference. Sony has done with the PS3 controller what Microsoft has too often done with Windows, stuck with what has been done before because they are afraid of upsetting people by making changes, even if those changes would be for the better

[kotukawi]

* Depending upon what the game is. Having briefly played Katamari using both controller styles? The asymmetric placement of the thumb stricks on the 360 means that playing Katamari is awkward because you're using both thumb sticks as movement.

I would be inclined to agree with you regarding the points you brought up. However, I also hate the feel of the ABXY buttons on the 360 and much prefer X/Circle/Square/Triangle on the PSn controllers; they're much more comfortable on my hands.

That said, I'm still going to go out on a limb and say that the N64 controller was one of the most natural ones I've ever held (this despite that it doesn't have a second thumbstick). My 2¢.

[solitary_zero]

Yay for shrinking the unplayed pile!! :D

I've managed to finally finish Final Fantasty III and Metroid Fusion fairly recently, so that's two games off my list! Currently near the end of Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks too, so the list is slowly being completed. Also realised that I must have also finished Super Mario Bros 64 DS (so old! XD), as I've got 114 stars. Even if I haven't actually defeated Bowser, I'm taking that as done! XD So once I get Spirit Tracks down, that will be a total of 4 out of 20 :D.

That said, with Red Steel II and Pokemon Heart Gold coming out this Friday over here, I might have to alter my resolution slightly of not buying another one until I complete 10 - miiiiiiiiight just shrink that down to 5... mostly so I can cash in on pre-order prices! XD